Undergraduate Engineer Review

The flexibility of the placement allowed me to undertake various job roles across different departments within the company. As a result, I was presented with fresh challenges which were geared towards my interests. Some placements were inevitably more enjoyable than others, although the overall standard was good.

On the whole, I feel that my colleagues valued the work that I completed. I was often given responsibility and a degree of freedom in my work that facilitated this.

My supervisors were excellent in general. I was given help to find secondments that matched my skills and interests when needed. I was also given excellent support when getting to grips with more technical knowledge that was required for some projects.

This fluctuated somewhat between quiet periods and extremely busy periods, though the overall balance was good.

The level of responsibility given for each job role varied, however at it's best I was able to take over an absent colleague's management role for a three month period along with the majority of their responsibilities.

The majority of the technical and business skills I have learnt are relevant to my degree. The company also offered a small number of personal development courses which will benefit my employability.

I worked in four offices during my placement. Atmospheres ranged from extremely friendly and talkative to fairy quiet and reserved. Everybody I worked with was, however, friendly and approachable.

The work placement offers a great deal of freedom, allowing undergraduates to seek out their own secondments in any department that can accommodate them. This provides an excellent range of opportunities, however as a result, some individual departments provide a less structured experience than others.

The company offered a limited set of personal development courses, but encouraged opportunities such as Flying Start Challenge (in which undergraduates visit local schools to assist with the design and manufacture of model gliders) to assist with personal development. A small number of undergraduates have also taken part in courses specific to their area of work when necessary.

I would be very happy to enter the graduate scheme, which offers similar flexibility and good career opportunities.

The company offers two societies (AWASA & AWADP) that are responsible for social and charity events among apprentices, students and postgraduates. These provide fairly regular events for socialising, both in the local area and occasionally further afield. This is limited somewhat by the limited variety of things to do in the local area and the relatively small younger population.

Housing and living costs are cheap. Socialising is also fairly cheap if you avoid the more expensive pubs.

This is perhaps the biggest downside to the local area. There are quite a few nice pubs, one or two good bars and one questionable nightclub. The social societies do occasionally arrange nights out in neighboring cities such as Bristol, Bath or Bournemouth.

The two social societies organise fairly regular activities during evenings and weekends, these are limited by what is available in the local area.